British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he would not rule
out military action against Iran, but believed a policy of sanctions
could still persuade Tehran to drop its disputed nuclear program.

"I firmly believe that the sanctions policy that we are pursuing
will work, but I'm not one who's going forward to say that we rule out
any particular form of action," Brown told a news conference, when
asked if he would rule out a military strike against Iran.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions
since December on Iran for failing to halt uranium enrichment, a process
which can produce fuel for power plants or material for warheads. A
third sanctions resolution is being considered.

Western powers suspect Iran's activities are secretly aimed at producing
atom bombs. Tehran says its nuclear program is for purely peaceful ends,
such as electricity generation.

Iran held talks with the U.N. watchdog International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) this month to clear up outstanding questions about its
nuclear activity and improve IAEA inspectors' access to its enrichment
plant.

This, say some European diplomats, has prompted the six big powers
working on the issue -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France
and Germany -- to quietly put off until September efforts to toughen
existing sanctions, in hopes Iran's improved cooperation with the IAEA
may defuse the standoff.

Brown said he believed the current sanctions were having an effect,
but he thought there would still be a third resolution.

"There will probably be a third resolution in relation to Iran
soon ... I appeal to the Iranian authorities to understand the feelings
that other countries have about the development of a nuclear weapons
program," he said.

"This new (U.N. sanctions) resolution, which we would like to
be firm, should clearly indicate to Iran that its obstinacy is leading
to its increased isolation, which is bad for its economy, its population
and its openness to the world."